Fielding million-dollar dreams for gender equality in sport

When you invest in and develop women and girls equally with men, success follows, says Elizabeth Broderick.

Cricketers Tully Rasmussen, Stephanie Davies, Grace Conroy and Cara Webb at Cromer, on Sydney’s northern beaches. Picture: Nikki Short

It’s not a dream but a reality for a cricket team of girls to one day ­aspire to become millionaires playing the game they love.

If Australia defends its T20 World Cup crown on Sunday, Cricket Australia will top up the prizemoney with a further $885,000 to ensure the team will earn $2.36m — just as much as their male counterparts if they won the final.

Yet the story is not the same across all sports.

Elizabeth Broderick and her team at the Male Champions of Change (Sport) are determined to change the game for women, ­especially when it comes to pay equality, and they have created a world-first scorecard ranking sports on this front.

The report titled “Pathway to Gender Equality in Sport including Pay Equality” documents how the 18 MCC members are tracking on prizemoney, promotion of female athletes and participation. It also says women, particularly female coaches, are lacking at the top of sport. “The report shows we need to get more women in leadership in sport, especially in coaching and high performance roles,” Ms Brod­erick said. “We are still really underdone in the coaching pathways. There are still some difficult areas for us — it will need bold and courageous action.

“And while a number of Australian sports have led the way globally on pay equity for elite women athletes, there is a clear opportunity for the entire sports ecosystem to get behind the drive for equal pay. Gender equality and pay equality in sport won’t happen through good intention or token efforts.

“When you invest in and develop women and girls equally with men, the market ­expands, the whole sport lifts and success follows.”

The scorecard will be formally released at an International Women’s Day Forum before the cup final at the MCG on Sunday in what is hoped will be a record-breaking crowd of 95,000-plus.